


Discarded Swords

by Zennelia



Category: Gundam Wing, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Blood and Injury, Character Development, Complicated Relationships, Conflict, Dark Character, Death, Drama, Friendship, Gen, Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Major Character Injury, Past Child Abuse, Post-Canon, Post-War, Preventers (Gundam Wing), Suspense, mentioned PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-27 19:54:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13255482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zennelia/pseuds/Zennelia
Summary: In the end, the world cannot stay out of disputes and the consequences fall to the fallen soldiers - who, once again, are forced to wield their discarded swords. But the sudden appearance of a figure from the past stir the conflict even more...





	1. Prologue: Flailing

**A Gundam Wing/AC Fanfiction –** **_Discarded Swords_ **

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimer applies.

Character(s): Heero Yuy/Duo Maxwell

Pairing(s): 1xR

Genre(s): Hurt/Comfort/Friendship/Family

A/N: Warning, possible AU and AR. And please note that  **English is not my native language** , so please pardon me for any possible grammar and vocabulary mistakes.

* * *

_March 7, AC 205_

_L1 Colony_

"Fancy for a drink?"

A young man, in his mid-twenties, slightly moved his head as he peered at his intruder. A sharp, deep, and glimmering of intense Prussian blue eyes narrowed suspiciously; the glare didn't lose its intensity despite the unruly dark brown bangs obscuring it.

"Whoa," the other man who was possibly older – from his face lines and subtle wrinkles around his bright hazel eyes – held up his hand in the air as he laughed. "What they say is true, eh? Your mere appearance speaks for yourself. I see why you've got all the spots."

"Identification." The younger man whose name was of Heero Yuy spoke coldly. The voice was no louder than a mere whisper; deep, calm, yet intimidating. The older man actually felt the hair on his neck stood to no end when he was graced with that daunting voice.

"Smoky," the man said casually, taking a seat in front of Heero without waiting an invitation he knew would never come. "You have swept over this area to make sure – ?"

"I do my job excellently." Heero cut Smoky off sharply. "I said,  _identification._ "

"Didn't I say I was – "

"Don't you understand what I told you?  _Identification._  Define the word."

Smoky sighed as he rubbed his blond locks. "Okay, okay, sorry, that was my mistake." He pulled out his wallet and a card from it, tossing it across the table. Heero glanced uninterestedly at the white object, and slowly darted his penetrating eyes to Smoky.

"God of Death." Heero said nonchalantly. "And what news you could be bringing to me tonight?"

"The clown has escaped," Smoky informed. "The Dragon Sword and the Heart are en route to the rendezvous point. They are waiting for your next command."

"We played our card just right." Heero reached for the tablet on the table and typed something. "Which point?"

Smoky hesitated. "The LX-1869999."

A twitch made its way to Heero's temple.  _"That little bugger."_

"Yeah, the God of Death." Smoky quickly said. "It was him – I was just following his order."

"You should have made your own better judgment," Heero said quietly; his facial expression and tone were unreadable. "I  _despise_  high risks."

"But you always do risky things," Smoky countered, scratched the back of his head, sighing. "But I reckon he didn't have any other choice – like all of us."

Heero narrowed his eyes. "Since when were we given  _any_  choices?"

Smoky couldn't answer.

"That's why we always make decisions on our own," Heero said dryly. He returned his attention back to his tablet. "What's been done cannot be undone. Precise time?"

"In 7 days, 4 sharp." Smoky answered. "They've got another message for you."

The other man didn't respond.

"They said not to do anything  _flashy,"_  Smoky stifled a grin, steeling himself for a posture. "They said they will kill you for  _sure_  if you go with something flashy."

Heero scoffed. "Tell them to say that to their own selves."

Smoky shrugged. "Anyway, they don't dare to bring the Fallen Stars, so it all relies on yours."

Heero nodded curtly. "I understand that. Just make sure their route is safe."

"Right." Smoky rose from his seat and put back on his hat. "See you around."

Heero Yuy didn't even spare the older man a slight movement for acknowledgment, already occupying himself back to his tablet. Smoky shook his head at this and left the almost empty parlour in dismay.

* * *

_March 14, AC 205_

_L4 Colony Cluster,_ _2325 hours_

Duo Maxwell tapped his black, heavy military boot impatiently. He glanced for the nth time on his weather-defeated wristwatch, and grumbled in annoyance, yet again. He took a long draw on his cigarette, puffing white smokes to the air.

He was in the shuttle port, along with Chang Wufei and Trowa Barton. They were supposed to depart an hour ago, but Quatre Winner had yet shown his existence since. They were to rendezvous with Heero in less than an hour at an incomplete, deserted colony construction, nearby the L1 cluster area. Their schedule was  _damn tight_ , but Q-ball had now decided at the most eminent time to wreck their perfectly planned plan – courtesy of Heero's brilliant mind, of course.

But knowing Quatre, worry started to develop within Duo.

"This is ridiculous," Duo grumbled. "Something must have happened to Quatre. We've waited long enough, 'Fei. I'm contacting Heero."

Wufei snorted and scowled indignantly. "We should  _have_ done that a  _long time_  ago, Maxwell. I'm going to track Winner's bloody location."

"No shit, Wufei. Not now," Duo barked warningly, feeling his temper rising to a dangerous level. Wufei could be so  _damn_  annoying when he wanted to, and now was surely not one of those times Duo could be so tolerant. 

"I'll ping it," Trowa interjected plainly. "You both, just call Noin and Lady Une."

Duo pulled out his mobile from his jacket pocket and dialled. Trowa produced a laptop from his duffel bag and set himself calmly against the circular couch. There were only another few passengers, most probably waiting for the last flight of that day. Wufei followed Duo's example, and walked away for privacy.

But before Wufei could patch a call, his mobile already vibrated and he smashed the screen forcefully with his thumb upon seeing the name flashing on it. He hissed furiously, face burning red angrily, "Where the hell have you been?! We're lacking one bloody hour behind! You better have a very good explanation, Winner!  _Speak!_ "

Duo frowned; looking up as he gave away a vicious scowl, signalling that he was unable to reach Heero. He shifted his attention fully to Wufei, noticing the drastic change of expression on Wufei's visage. Wufei listened for a while longer, before muttering a stiff 'I understand' and ended the call.

"Wufei?" Trowa called calmly. "Was it Quatre?"

Wufei's feature was terrifyingly distraught. "Yes. The whole plan was cancelled. They got Yuy."

Duo jerked sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Noin and Merquise found Yuy at the engineering construction site with serious injuries. Winner said that he got information that Yuy's situation is perilous. Winner was forced to go low profile by an encrypted call from Noin as soon as they found Yuy."

"But surely they found evidence of Heero fighting back, right?" Duo slumped to the couch beside Trowa who remained calm.

"Yes. This is bad news. Anyone who managed to overpower him in a fight must be someone very dangerous. Unless they are more than one party. This isn't good." Wufei said rigidly, looking at his two companions.

"Of course they were more than one party!" Duo scowled darkly. "We all know Heero! Fuck, this is so fucked up! God… didn't Quatre offer more than that? He just said that?"

"He is en route to the L1 with some of Preventers special ops. He said he will send us the details once he's in safe territory. We can go to the L1 in an hour after they make sure our route is safe too."

"Heero's in the Preventer hospital, right?" Trowa asked, checking at the computer once again before closing its lid. "What kind of perilous?"

"Five of eight," said Wufei grimly. "Not out of the woods. That's all Quatre volunteered."

"Jesus Christ..." Duo groaned, burying his face into his hands. "So we wait? We can't get updates on Heero? Shit... he's not gonna die, isn't he? After all he did..."

"No," said Trowa confidently. "He won't die yet. Heero always pulls through."

"For the man who did self-destruct in a goddamn Gundam, so I bet he's very good," said Wufei bitterly. "So yes, Maxwell, we wait. I'm not going to put my bet on Yuy. As Barton said, he will pull through. Let's patch up the holes on our own right now. We know the strings; we do what we can to finish all this up. Yuy's sacrifice will not be in vain. We can make sure of that."

"Hell yeah, Heero's bent down on that," Duo murmured tiredly, slouching forward in exhaustion. "Yeah, 'Fei, let's make ourselves subservient this time, eh?"

Wufei ignored the braided man, already indulging in his own tablet. Duo blinked and grumbled, snatching the computer from Trowa's lap and began his search. "Fuck you, Wufei."

_"Fuck you too, Maxwell."_

Trowa only smirked.


	2. Mortal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious party is in motion and they already took Heero down. From the piece of information Heero got, it seems that all of these eventful chains are carefully staged through the years. With his partner temporarily out of commission, now it's up to Zechs and the others to put everything back in order.

_March 13, AC 205_

_Cancelled colony construction, L1 Area_

 

_"Code 101-122, coming in. Code 101-122, coming in. Agent Wing, do you copy?"_

"Yes. Loud and clear."

_"About fucking time. What took you so long, Yuy?"_

Heero twitched in annoyance at the crisp, sarcastic voice. "Patient,  _Merquise._  We had a deal on this. I do this on my term."

A scoff from the other end of the earphone.  _"You better have a good excuse, this has been over almost an hour. We're lagging behind. Seriously, have you lost your touch? I should have gone instead of you. Did you find it or_ not?"

"Yes," Heero bit his lip, holding back about venomous retort on his tongue.  _Why the bloody hell Une would pair_ him _as his partner in this mission anyway?_ "I got it safely tucked under my shirt, if you care so much about that. Now shut that bloody whining of yours. You're distracting me."

 _"Then what makes you linger around there any longer? Just get the hell out from there now. Didn't you get what the Oracles proposed to us? We don't have any more seconds. Why the hell you're taking so_ — _"_

Heero took a deep breath as he steeled himself to sharpen his hearing and drowned out all of Zechs' cheeky protests.  _The man was being exceptionally_ bitchy _today. Zechs was always like that when he was nervous about something. Talk about edgy…_

"Merquise," Heero gritted his teeth; he had indeed one very bloody good reason for the lack of his usual dexterity, " _shut up._  I hear someone fuss about the site, for God's sake. Now give me my deserved space to assess the whole situation.  _Just. Fucking. Shut. Up."_

Zechs knew when Heero had begun to elaborate more than actually needed  _and_  swore, then he  _really_  meant business.

_"...Fine. The backups are on their way. Try to be as low as possible, Agent Wing. In and out."_

"Understood," Heero replied curtly as he took a step forward, without making any noise. He pulled his gun out from its holster, and he felt the adrenaline rushing through his veins. He was in a long, dark hallway of the abandoned colony main machinery and engineering construction site. He had succeeded to retrieve the required ledger documents for one particular illegal smuggler organisation the Preventers had been hunting until now — Heero's intelligence unit had gathered information that lately there had been suspicious activity. They found out that it was indeed the recent illegal Gundanium contractor — called 'Black Pensieve' (what a ridiculous name it was) — that was giving the ESUN and colonies quite turmoil for they had done what the government feared most: trafficking arms and Gundanium materials to the underground black-markets. If Preventers couldn't cut off the chains; war would surely set on fire again. Now, if only they decided to show themselves and he could get an opening to immobilise at least one of them, then let the backups took care of the rest...

Heero felt the hair on his nape stood to no end when his sharp hearing caught a soft thud by the end of the hallway. He placed his finger on his gun safety; ready to open fire.  _That is._ _More than one person, most likely. How long they have been…? Why couldn't I hear anything earlier?_

Was he getting old?  _Damn you, Zechs._

A faint click broke through the silence, and a quiet hiss of a radio permeated through the hallway. Heero jerked sharply and jumped back just in time before a long leg swung in the air where his head just had been before. Heero let out a low 'oof!' when he dodged another punch from his back. Heero leapt aside and turned on his heels, facing his enemies.

Heero narrowed his eyes at his attackers. Both wore a dark space helmet and spacesuit; Heero couldn't make out their face at all. They were no taller than him, but from their build, Heero took a mild suggestion that at the most, they were only a couple years older than him. His instinct sensed  _peril_. He needed to get out of this compound quickly.

"Who are you?" Heero asked quietly, drawing out his small, but as well deadly Gundanium-made blade in his left hand. He took a slight low stance, measuring distance as his mind took in data to calculate the upcoming possibilities. "Speak or I kill you."

His two guests didn't offer any response, but merely (seemingly) staring at him. The air was thick with nervous energy, but in Heero's case; slow, but bubbling rage.

"Who are you?" repeated Heero, voice as cold as thin ice. Despite his deadly aura, his heart told him,  _Run. Y_ _ou'll die._

"Our order is to kill the Preventer commanders," one of them said suddenly, voice rattled behind the helmet. It held no emotion – the voice was just merely speaking. Heero felt his heart actually dropped to his stomach – nothing could make him ready of what was coming next.

Both of the strangers straightened and sped across the short distance at an unnatural speed. Heero let out a muffled gasp as he spun aside, barely dodging a knife attack. He bent his arm and released a full blow of his blade — there was no holding back — into the stomach of one of them; sending the body down the floor and a spurt of dark blood to his face. Heero used this momentum to fire two rounds – a professional, he never shot more than two bullets at a time — to the other with terrifying accuracy. The shots managed to haul significant crack to the helmet, and the figure stopped in his track as he, slowly, yanked the helmet off his head, revealing a black hair and a pale face of a young man.

Heero stared unblinkingly. He steadied both his handgun and blade; ready to counterattack. The young man in front of him was unmistakably older than him, his eyes were deep green with sharp nose and jaw.  _German,_  Heero mused.  _His eyes spoke everything._  He stepped back tentatively, and his opponent drew forward. Heero's jaw tightened; his lips thin. His own Prussian blue eyes were unforgiving; chilling and piercing. Heero narrowed his eyes, and flew forward without notice – also in inhuman speed.

His enemy's eyes slightly widened at the blur that was Heero and was sent back to the wall in the next second, feeling air was knocked out his lungs. Heero swung his blade down for a finishing blow, but the other guy he had injured earlier was already in front of him before Heero could realise it and pain exploded within him.

_What the hell? The wound should have been at least immobilised him for a few good hours —_

But not before he managed of two fatal shots right at the black-haired man's chest, and the body slid down the wall, eyes wide but unseeing.

Pain rammed Heero again backwards as he was struck across his chest three times in rapid succession with a speed and strength that left Heero shocked. He felt at least four ribs giving away under three more attacks. His consciousness was fading but he could barely sense he had stumbled back into one of the deserted rooms. He shut his eyes tightly and opened them again to gain a clearer view. His enemy was looking at him calculatingly with emotionless black eyes.

Heero's opponent walked steadily towards him. Ignoring the sharp wave of pain coursing his every cell, Heero bent down on his knees and lurched forward, but he wasn't quick enough — his broken rib impeded his mobility. He only managed to fire once and  _missed —_  it was as his enemy already knew where he would aim before he did.

_Shit. Is this the time to pay for my sins?_

No. He had to finish the mission first. He couldn't afford to fail now — the Preventer needed the documents in his possession.

The man tilted his head to the side, and then gracefully spun to deal a high side kick. Heero almost didn't catch the extremely fast movement and barely rose his left arm to block the kick, and a sickening  _crack_  told him that his arm had undoubtedly broken.

Heero grunted and swayed. The man used the precious moment to deliver a hard stab with a knife to Heero's stomach and crushed Heero's head to the table behind them — forcefully. Colourful stars danced in Heero's eyes and he staggered, but he managed to hold his ground and jerked aside. The deep knife wound pouring his fresh blood freely, and judging from where the pain had bloomed, the knife most likely had impaired his abdominal aorta.  _That wasn't good._

Heero dismayingly took notice of his failing respiratory system. He couldn't breathe without the sharp, stabbing pain puncturing his lungs. He raised his gun, satisfied that it was aimed steadily despite the excruciating pain across his whole body. His blade was nowhere in his possession anymore. Heero blinked away the drowsiness, his trained senses picked up that his body had taken far more serious damages in his subtle moment of vulnerability in previous attacks: a large gush manifested on his head and he was bleeding egregiously; external and internal. Realising that it was the only sheer rage that was keeping him conscious, Heero summoned all his remaining strength and fired.

_No — move, damn it — the documents… I need to deliver them…_

The last ounce of his consciousness seeped away and he dropped to the floor with a sickening  _thud_ , a pool of dark blood quickly forming beneath his body.

A shout calling from distance but Heero heard no more.

* * *

_March 15, AC 205_

_Preventers L1 Hospital, 2140 hours_

In the dimness on the deserted corridor, Lady Une slouched in exhaustion as she checked her watch. The visiting hours were long over; but her second-highest commander was on the brink of death after a failed assassination attempt by a party she suspected as the biggest illegal smuggler group they have been hunting for nearly 3 years — and she felt responsible of his failed security.

The new ESUN's government policy to complete disarmament wasn't without dissension. Most of those who opposed were the military weapons companies and suppliers. ESUN had proposed them new business schemes; turning their weapon-oriented manufacture to something that would supply the colonies and Earth constructions — and for the better world of peace and pacifism, of course. It took nearly 3 years for the new ESUN and colonies government to establish and provide a profitable scheme for both parties. However, not all of them came to the agreement, some walked-out from the negotiation and refused to let go of what had been feeding them all these years.

Those particular people then sprung up new criminal enterprises, building a massive and complicated underground connection for illegal weapon trading. The Mars Terraforming Project and a new colony construction in the area of Lagrangian Point 3 — the least observed and built Lagrangian area — added the bubbling stir into the uncertain political situation. People who were not satisfied rose to protest, escalating civil war in the third world countries which suffered the most from the war. Natural resources were becoming very scarce; the ESUN and colonies were struggling to keep its people fed. Agricultural and earth science engineers were suddenly needed than ever.

In other words, humanity was still at stake.

During these uncertain times, Preventers as the front line of both governments policy were the only hope of people. The existence of the organisation could no longer be hidden; they need every supports they could gather and the power of trust from the people. The Preventers, even though was originally established by and served for the ESUN, finally ended up as an independent organisation; refusing to be embroiled in the complicated world of politics. They would only do what they had to do: protecting the world and the fragile peace they had managed to achieve with blood and deaths. Regardless of whether it was ESUN or colonies government, Preventers would take it into their full account if a problem arises. Corruption became something very tempting for diplomats, and most likely erupted wave of anger amongst the people. Well, Lady Une knew it was a terribly long way before they could achieve real peace.

"Une?"

Lady Une shot her head up at the familiar voice. Milliardo Peacecraft was standing in front of her; his long white-blond hair was messy and his Preventer uniform was dishevelled.

"Agent Wind," Lady Une acknowledged, smiling faintly. "Splendid job you did back then in Australia. One line of fire down."

Milliardo shrugged and fell to the chair beside Lady Une. "Wouldn't have been able to do that without Winner. His timing was mostly impeccable."

"Where is he?"

"In the office. He wanted to fill in some of the data which Yuy hadn't been able to. Said he would be here in 15 minutes, approximately."

A deafening silence fell between them; each falling to their respective thoughts.

"Have you told your sister?" Une finally asked quietly. Milliardo blinked wearily as he turned to his companion, his look was blank.

"No," Milliardo admitted. "Not yet. I… don't think it's a good idea, considering her situation."

 _Damn right. She is the one who's having the hardest time dealing with all of the diplomats, in these situations…_  "I see your point."

"Still no news regarding Yuy's condition?"

Lady Une was about to open her mouth when a nurse strode across them, and whispered urgently, "Commander Une, he is awake. He asks for — "

"He's awake?!" Une rose to her feet immediately, upset. "But he shouldn't be — "

"Yes, and he asks for you. We tried to sedate him, but he was fighting the staff, so we decided to go by his requests now. The sooner you're done, the better."

Lady Une nodded stiffly. "Let's go then."

Milliardo also got up, but Lady Une shook her head. "You better stay here, fill in the others when they get here. There's a chance he will get too fired up if he sees you; he would ask you what had happened. I'll not try to dig too deep, he shouldn't even be awake."

Milliardo only shrugged, and slumped back on the chair.  _I was bitching all over him like a clingy girlfriend just because of that sickening hunch on my stomach. Did I contribute my part to throw him into this situation?_

Milliardo groaned, leaning his head against the wall as his brain ground every information he could relive.

_Fuck. Fuck you, Yuy, now you will get my sister all lashing about on me. I should have gone on your place instead..._

* * *

The ICU room was dark; filled with hisses and noises from the medical equipment taking its measurement. Heero was conscious and he was facing the door, his expression was blank by fatigue. His face muscles were taut with pain; his breathing was haggard.

"Heero," Lady Une reached a hand to the wounded agent. Her heart flinched with fear as she studied his helpless form. Almost of Heero's entire abdomen and head wrapped in bandages; fresh blood already seeping out from some parts of the broken body. His broken right arm was in a bulky cast. Even so, the deep blue eyes were as bright and sharp as she could remember, aware and alert. "You should wait until you're more lucid. You need to rest."

"No," Heero hissed, struggling to take a breath. "We were — tapped. Notice to… all hands to — to switch to my – " he gasped sharply, clenching his eyes shut as waves of excruciating pain washed over his body. Lady Une subconsciously jerked back slightly at the sound, wincing in sympathy. The nurses immediately approached the bed, and one of them said huskily to Lady Une, "Commander, we're very sorry, but you must go. Commander Yuy is in extreme pain and severe physical trauma; he cannot exert himself to this point. If you would please — "

"Shut it up," suddenly Heero hissed furiously, traces of his earlier signs of the damaged body were completely gone. The nurses dropped jaws and stepped back instinctively upon the threatening tone. Lady Une stared at the wounded agent in shock, blinking confusedly. 

"Heero, what the hell? How could you — damn it, just rest, okay? We will take over. You don't need to worry about it. Your agents are already in motion and investigations are under its way. How the hell did you do  _that?"_

"Switch to my own secure line," Heero continued rigidly, gripping Lady Une's arm with such strength that she blinked in surprise. "Their order was to have us dead…"

Lady Une straightened at the statement and leaned in closer. "They are targeting the high officials?"

Heero tightened his grip. "Conduct a thorough investigation within the government… Une..." the grip suddenly loosened and the hand fell limply. A nurse let out a low squeak as she hurried to leave for the doctors while the others moved forward again, urging Lady Une. "Commander, please, would you?"

Lady Une nodded curtly. "I'll do that," she promised quickly, having her clear mind back. "We'll do that, we promise. At ease, Heero. You can trust me and the others. We'll take your findings into full account. Just rest and recuperate." She nodded to the anxious nurses around them, and retreated from the bed. She carefully put Heero's now limp hand back to the white sheet, and gave a last calming gesture to her fellow commander. Apparently, Heero was already unconscious, and Lady Une quietly exited the room.

_Oh God… why does the circle always loop over?_

* * *

_Unidentified area_

"You failed, 03!"

A man with glassy black eyes stared ahead, not flinching at the raging voice. He didn't show any sign of discomfort, or any sort of emotion. He merely accepting the bashing from his inferior.

"What made it so difficult to kill  _him?_  He's just a broken remnant of war!"

"He is as efficient as the Perfect Soldier he was. I didn't expect he would be that good."

 _"Excuses, excuses!_ You've undergone a very extensive training and I have conditioned  _all_  of you even better than him! Don't you talk back to me — I had my research, and I know what I'm doing! You're useless! Not to say that 05 is  _dead_  — useless! Absolute disgrace! You know eliminating Yuy is our most highest priority — he's their pillar and it is essential to execute him! You want to go under those tortures again, huh?! I don't care how — kill him in his death bed  _now_ if needed, if that makes your job easier — and Une! I want them dead now!"

The man's body tensed. He hadn't been disgraced that far for taking a like to kill an already half-dead man and while he wasn't able to defend himself, to say the least. Nonetheless, he nodded stiffly — just to satisfy his inferior. "We will make sure of it."


End file.
